After some dancing and fun in the small pub we headed out to the beach of Camps Bay. At the bar music was loud and the drinks were not cheap! Swanky South Africans and European travelers danced and sipped on beers while others stood at the bar watching. Gerard Butler was there and he danced and talked with us for the night. His friends were also there and one of them told me about the movie that they just finished filming in Johannesburg and how Gerard was very sad because he had a hard time connecting to his character. Who know what that means but it was cool to have him there! After that, we went back to the ship and went to sleep.

... how Gerard was very sad because he had a hard time connecting to his character ...

I have my theories as to why that might be, but I probably should keep them to myself. Not because they're insulting or anything, but because people might misconstrue them as such (if that makes any sense).

It's sad to not "connect" like that, but it can also challenge a person to dig deeper next time. Gerry's been playing in too many romcoms and hanging around too many fluff and "yes" people. Sam and the people in his world were probably a reality jolt. Sam's world ain't Hollywood and paparazzi and shallow wannabe starlets. And doing God's calling is the highest calling a person can do - it's deep stuff, and to connect to that kind of depth sometimes you need to connect to the source - and that source might not necessarily be Sam, if you get my drift.

Okay, maybe I didn't keep quite all of it to myself. I'm not passing judgment because I wasn't there and have no right. Just a few of my theories and personal opinions.

I agree with you DK and get it too and I hope what I say isn't judgmental. You are right, Sami, none of us know him. But that means we have to base our opinions on what we read and hear.

I remember expressing my concerns about Gerard playing this character in a private chat about whether he could pull it off. I really admire Sam for being bold in his ministry. He is courageous in so many ways. It had to take courage just to walk away from his former lifestyle and go into ministry. Sam is a guy with depth and conviction.

Even things we hear from Gerard's own mouth give an image that he is opposite Sam. Remember the Alexa Chung interview where he was asked about threesomes and he said "The Butler Did it?" Wasn't that just last year? It's so frat boy and shallow, imo. And isn't he about to turn 41?

I was very excited about this project and hoped we would have seen a new Gerard on screen. It's early yet but it looks as if he didn't make the connection.

As for his personal life, it's really none of my business but he seems to continue to be as shallow as ever. Gerard doesn't seem to be grounded, so to speak. Sometimes a good relationship will do that. It doesn't have to be a romance, just solid friendships with some down-to earth people who are willing to be honest with you. I was concerned from the beginning as to how such a seemingly shallow person was going to portray such an interesting and complex person as Sam.

I don't think Gerry is shallow, I just think he's been hanging around too many shallow people. I think maybe Sam might have caused him to rethink some things, and maybe it will turn out for the good. If what Gerry's friend says it's true, I don't see that as a negative for Gerry, but rather a positive. It tells me he still has a lot of depth in there that perhaps he needs to reconnect with. I'm not passing judgment, I speak from experience....I've felt that way myself.

I still have faith that this is going to be a good movie, provided it's played with realism and not the Hollywood glamour and fluff that's so prevalent in movies nowadays. I watched "Blood Diamond" yesterday, and was impressed. I hope Machine Gun Preacher comes out as something similar to that, if not better. Maybe Gerry "connected" more than he thought he did. Only time will tell, and if he did his best, that's what counts. God can bless the rest and do what man's efforts can't.

I do think what he said on Alexa Chung was frat boy and shallow. Is he truly shallow? I don't know him. But based on his words and constant partying, that's the way he comes across to me. I don't really care to meet him--hell, I would never have the time!--but maybe if I did meet him and become friends with him I would have a different opinion. Sometimes I do see a lot of myself in him and my BFF said he believes that is why I "study" Gerard. However, I do have a more grounded life than Gerard and I love it that way.

And I know I have no room to be judgmental. I still have areas of my life that lack the depth and maturity I wish they had. I get worried that I may never progress in some personal levels of my life. It's sad to me because my career and work experiences have always been so awesome.

I have no real theories as to why an anonymous blogger who may or may not have had a quick fly-by conversation with GB in a nightclub would post that it was difficult to connect with Childers. What I do know is that GB does not always consider carefully what he says BEFORE he says it, nor do his explanations involve great depth at times.

However, there is one thing of which I am very sure. This movie, as a complete departure from his previous offerings because of its roots in real life, will be a compelling story. I also believe it will be very well made. Remember, Marc Forster is the director - Monster Ball, The Kiter Runner, Finding Neverland - how can it not have been a challenging experience for GB?

like i said earlier...i don't personally know gerry or anything about his "real" personality. just know what we read and see in the media.

but....seems to me that if it looks like a duck and acts like a duck......

he does make some fairly shallow and frat boy comments. i agree that he hangs with folks who are that way, but i would *think* that he would have to have a touch of that in himself.....or all his friends wouldn't be that way.

I tend to believe the blogger because her comment about meeting Gerry and his friend's comment was an aside in her blog. She even said she wasn't sure what Gerry's friend meant, as if she didn't understand the comment herself.

Gerry may be being hard on himself and thinking that perhaps he didn't connect as much as he should have. Maybe he made that comment because he is anxious about his performance and hopes he did a good job. He has said in past interviews that often he thinks a performance wasn't good, but then the director loves it.

I would think that it would be difficult to play a person who is deeply religious and has a spiritual calling when you seem to be someone who is still struggling to find your own spirituality. I am assuming that is the case with Gerry based on the reports of him going to India and attending Oneness U and other things that he has said in interviews. But only he truly knows how he feels and what religious and spiritual beliefs he has, as he hasn't expressed them in depth in interviews. The only thing that has been reported is that he was raised Catholic, but he doesn't seem to be a strict practicing one.

The other possibility is that when the friend said that he was sad because he had a hard time connecting to the character he meant that he had a hard time while connecting to the character (i.e. in connecting to the character, it affected him etc.) and the girl and her friends misunderstood. Perhaps the friend's comments weren't clear to her or she didn't follow what he was saying, and thus why she found it a confusing and odd statement. She may have no idea of the subject matter of the film.

Who knows. But I think it will be interesting to see what Gerry says in interviews while promoting the film. He will probably expound on the experience and if he is asked insightful questions he may give a glimpse of how the experience effected him spiritually. Or he may give answers that promote the film and sound good - he is an actor after all and promotes his films with excitement like they are the greatest thing out there. I have often wondered after viewing some (like The Bounty Hunter) if he actually believes that they are great movies and is out of touch with the finished product or if he is just a good salesman doing his job. I tend to think it is the later, and that he "sells" the film, no matter what he personally thinks of the end product based on the fact that he has said in some interviews where he is promoting a really good film (like Dear Frankie, 300 or HTTYD) that he is really proud of those films and that it is easy to be excited and talk about them unlike some other films that he had to promote that weren't good films.

The one thing that I will say about Gerry, is that he is good at promoting films and he seems to manage to be excited and find good things to say about them in interviews and at press junkets, even if the final film isn't great. In a way, that is often his best acting....

Well....he is an actor after all. From the interviews he's given, what has come from his own lips, he's problably not much like the Gerry in PSILY either. Or "the Stranger" in Dear Frankie which I haven't seen yet. From an older interview, he said he either turned down at first that role, or delayed in making up his mind (maybe the subject matter may have been too personal for him?). Still, he gave wonderful performances from what I saw in PSILY and from the Dear Frankie reviews (some critics think that was his best performance). I actually love his romcoms. Its not as with Matthew McConaughey,who has seemed to just abandon more serious projects as in his earlier movies (I MISS Matthew in more serious roles like Lone Star,A Time To Kill and Amistead, he's excellent in them). On some level, Gerry must connect to his roles or he wouldn't be such a great actor, in my humble opinion.